New York - A civil rights attorney convicted of aiding terrorists
last year wants the federal government to reveal whether any
warrantless or illegal electronic surveillance was conducted on her or
anyone involved in her case.

In a court petition filed Monday, Lynne Stewart contends that such
an inquiry is necessary to determine whether government surveillance
compromised her case.

The motion in federal court in New York follows revelations last
year that President Bush authorized the National Security Agency to
monitor domestic communications - without court approval - when one
party is overseas and terrorism is suspected.

Stewart, 66, was convicted in February 2005 of providing material
support to terrorists by releasing the message of a notorious jailed
client, Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman. She also was convicted of defrauding
the government and making false statements.

Abdel-Rahman was convicted of seditious conspiracy for his
advisory role in a plot to blow up five New York City landmarks,
including the United Nations in 1995.

Stewart, who represented the blind sheik at his trial, remained
one of his lawyers afterward, agreeing to special rules the U.S.
government put in place to prevent Abdel-Rahman from communicating
with the outside world.

She had argued that Rahman was engaging in free speech when he
expressed his opinion about a cease-fire by Islamic militants in Egypt
that she passed along in a 2000 press release.

Her sentencing was postponed indefinitely in March after she was
found to have breast cancer. She faces as many as 20 years in prison.